Wife For Real

He was in the hall taking off his jacket when she opened the sitting-room door. He glanced round, and Katherine realised how exhausted he looked. There were deep lines etched either side of his mouth and his skin looked grey beneath its tan.

‘I thought you would be in bed by now.’ He tossed his jacket onto a hook then leant against the wall as though he was almost too tired to stand up. ‘Should I be touched that you waited up for me?’

The fleeting concern Katherine had felt disappeared at once. She stared coldly back at him, hating the way he kept taunting her like that. It was something he had never done before; it made her wonder a little fearfully what had changed to make him do so now. ‘I assumed that your absence had something to do with Peter’s problems. I wanted to know what had gone on and if you had decided to help him.’

‘Of course.’ Jordan gave a soft laugh which held just a thread of menace. His eyes were cold as he came along the hall, the tiredness in them not quite hiding his contempt. ‘I should have realised that any concern you felt was purely on behalf of your beloved brother. Silly of me to imagine anything else, wasn’t it? I must be more tired than I realised.’

Katherine swung round, refusing to stand there and debate the point when her nerves were already so on edge. ‘I’ll make some coffee. You look as though you could do with some.’

‘Mmm, there’s a lot of things I could do with, my sweet wife, but I doubt I’m going to get them tonight.’

There was a nuance in his voice which brought the colour to her face. Katherine busied herself filling the percolator until she was sure that the colour had faded. Yet, when she glanced round, Jordan was watching her with an expression in his eyes which made her realise he had seen her reaction. The thought unsettled her even more, so that her hands shook and the coffee scattered all over the worktop.

‘Leave it. Instant will do. I’m too tired to wait around for that to be ready, anyway.’

He sat down at the table and closed his eyes as he ran his hand around the back of his neck to ease the aching muscles. Katherine watched him for a second, then hurriedly switched on the kettle and made two mugs of instant coffee. She set them on the table and sat down opposite him.

‘God, what a day!’ Jordan sighed as he opened his eyes and took a sip of the hot liquid. ‘I don’t remember ever being this tired before. Must be jet lag, I suppose.’ He looked up and smiled sardonically. ‘But I don’t expect you’re interested in hearing about my problems, are you, Katherine? I imagine you’re waiting to hear if Peter is off the hook.’

Katherine ignored his sarcasm. ‘And is he?’

Jordan laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. ‘That’s what I admire about you. You go straight to the important things in your life, and there is nothing quite so important as your brother—oh, and your father, of course. We mustn’t forget him, must we? Not when he was instrumental in bringing us together in the first place. Don’t you feel just the tiniest bit aggrieved with your father for that? Or do you prefer to blame me for this predicament you find yourself in? Married to a man you loathe.’

‘I have no intention of sitting here listening to this!’ Katherine went to get up, shaken by what he had said. It just confirmed all her fears that something had changed. They’d had a tacit agreement not to mention the past, but today Jordan seemed to be taking every opportunity to rake it up. However, with a speed which shocked her, he reached over and caught her hand.

‘Don’t run away. I am merely stating a fact, not trying to start an argument again if that’s what you’re worried about. The only reason you married me, Katherine, was because I had it in my power to save your father from bankruptcy. Neither of us is under any illusion about that.’

He gave her a brooding little smile as his fingers slid up her arm beneath the sleeve of her jacket. They felt cool against her skin and she shivered involuntarily, but Jordan didn’t appear to notice. She was grateful for that, because she felt vulnerable enough without him making anything out of the fact that she trembled when he touched her!

‘I wonder if it would have turned out better if I had been more like the men in your circle, the men who play by the rules you understand—like Charles, for instance. You and Charles seem to get on very well, but then you have so much in common, don’t you?’

‘I cannot see any point in this conversation. How well Charles and I get on has no bearing on this at all!’ she retorted, stung by the way she was reacting to Jordan’s touch.

‘Hasn’t it?’ Something crossed his face, an expression which made Katherine’s breath catch when she saw it. She must be mistaken, she thought wildly, because there was no reason for the sudden rage she could see in his eyes.

‘You’ve been seeing a lot of Charles recently, haven’t you, Katherine? The ballet the other day, probably the opera or an art exhibition as well. Unfortunately, I know very little about such things. But then you and Charles come from very similar backgrounds—a world away from how I was brought up, believe me.’

‘I...I really do not see where this is leading, Jordan. My friendship with Charles is neither here nor there!’

She tried to draw her hand away, but Jordan’s fingers tightened and he gave a harsh laugh. ‘So that’s what you and Charles are—friends? I see.’

‘What do you mean? What do you see? Exactly what are you implying, Jordan?’ Katherine felt her heart leap as she heard the scorn in his voice.

‘Why should I be implying anything?’ His eyes were suddenly hooded as they rested on her angry face. ‘I was merely trying to determine if our marriage could have been a success if I were like the other men you know, but I don’t suppose it would have made a scrap of difference.

‘The last thing you wanted from me or any man was a real relationship, wasn’t it? You were simply willing to trade yourself in exchange for what I could do for your father. Now we shall have to see what you are prepared to do to help your brother.’

‘I imagine it depends on what you ask in return for helping Peter, doesn’t it?’ She gave a bitter laugh, anger washing through her in red-hot waves to chase away the nervousness she felt. How dared Jordan speak to her like that?

‘If we are establishing facts then let’s get them straight. If I was prepared to trade then so were you! Or are you trying to claim that you fell in love with me, and that’s why you wanted to marry me? I don’t think so!’

She dragged her hand free, barely noticing the way his eyes flickered behind his heavy lids. She had no idea why he was acting like this, but if he imagined she was going to sit there and take whatever he cared to dole out then he was mistaken!

‘You wanted a suitable wife who knew how to entertain your clients and I wanted to help my father. Those are the facts. They have nothing to do with Charles or anyone else. It was just that you, with your usual arrogance, decided to change the rules! Our marriage could have been perfectly amicable if you hadn’t taken it upon yourself to show me things you thought I should know!’

She pushed back the chair so that its legs scraped against the tiles. The noise was harsh and discordant. Katherine’s nerves strained at it. She felt incredibly angry. How Jordan felt she had no idea. He was just sitting there staring down at the mug of coffee, his head bowed almost in defeat...

That thought fled from her mind as fast as it had appeared. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing hysterically. ‘Defeat’ wasn’t a word Jordan understood!

‘So, are you going to tell me where you went tonight and what happened, or not?’

There was a moment when she thought he wasn’t going to answer, and then he looked up. There was no anger on his face, nothing to show how much he resented the things she had said, but that didn’t fool her. Jordan must be furious about the way she had spoken to him. Her heart lurched as she wondered if it had been wise in the circumstances.

‘Why not? After all, you more than anyone are entitled to know what your brother has been up to, Katherine.’

There was something in his voice, an undercurrent, which made her skin prickle with apprehension. Katherine drew a ragged breath as she recalled what he had said about how far she would be prepared to go to help Peter...

‘Then you had better tell me exactly what you found out, hadn’t you?’ She forced down the fear and struggled to appear composed, but it wasn’t easy. Jordan had more reason than ever to extract a high price for his help!

He smiled narrowly as he picked up his cup. ‘It appears that your brother doesn’t owe fifty thousand pounds after all.’

Katherine blinked in confusion. ‘But why did he say that he did? I don’t understand.’

Jordan slammed the cup down so hard that she jumped. ‘It’s simple. Peter owes closer to one hundred thousand. The fifty grand he needs so urgently is just the start. It just so happens that the owners of one particular club have decided to call in his debt, and I’m sure the rest of his creditors won’t be far behind them once word gets out. From what I was able to discover, Peter owes various sums to at least half a dozen clubs around London.’

‘No!’ Katherine gripped the table as the room swam out of focus. ‘Are... are you sure? It could be some sort of a silly mix-up—even... even a deliberate attempt to extort money. I mean, who’s to say if those people didn’t just tell you that in the hope that you would settle the debt for Peter?’

‘I don’t think so. They wouldn’t be that foolish!’ Jordan’s laughter was harsh, brutal even. In the bright overhead light his face looked tough and uncompromising, with a cold cynicism glittering in his eyes which made her shiver as she saw it.

She knew his reputation, of course. Jordan was a tough negotiator and few who crossed him survived to tell the tale. There had been many articles in the papers about the way he had fought his way to the top with a ruthless determination. He never compromised, never accepted second best, never allowed anything to deter him from his goals. If anyone could help Peter out of this situation then it was Jordan, but what he would expect in return remained to be seen!

She took a quick little breath to control the rush of fear as Jordan continued in the same uncompromising tone. ‘It appears that an attempt was made to contact me once it was realised how deeply in debt your brother was getting. Unfortunately I was out of the country at the time, so the message never reached me.’

Katherine frowned in bewilderment. ‘I don’t understand. Why should these people have contacted you?’

‘Because your brother gave my name as a reference when he asked to extend his credit. Somehow it was allowed to slip through without a proper check being done, and once one club had agreed to the new credit limits the others followed suit. Alarm bells only started ringing when people realised that he was in way over his head, but by then it was too late.

‘Unless Peter finds a way to repay the money he’ll be ruined. There is no way that he’ll be kept on at the Stock Exchange once word gets out, and believe me it won’t take long before that happens.’

‘No!’ Katherine stared at Jordan in despair. ‘Is... is there anything we can do?’

‘That depends.’ Jordan looked down at the mug. When he looked up again, Katherine could see something in his eyes which made her heart beat so fast that she could feel the blood swirling through her veins.

‘On what?’ Her voice was whispery-thin in the silence. She licked her parched lips and made herself repeat the question she didn’t want to ask. ‘What does it depend on, Jordan? What are you saying?’

‘That it is up to you what happens, Katherine. Peter’s future depends on what you decide to do.’

‘I don’t understand...’